The Quickest Way to Weaken a Warrior

I was 14 the first time I remember someone tried to tell me what I couldn’t read.

I was sitting in a religion class in the back of a Catholic high school. We were told to stay away from certain books. No explanations. Just warnings. Dangerous. Confusing. Misleading.

But here’s the thing: telling a curious young man not to read something is like putting a red button on the wall and saying, “Don’t push it.”

So I read it.

I read everything. Nietzsche. Vonnegut. Baldwin. Hemingway. Lao Tzu.

I snuck them into my lunch breaks. I devoured every word, not because I wanted to rebel, but because I wanted to understand.

And the more I read, the more I realized:

The quickest way to weaken a warrior is to keep him from thinking.

A couple weeks ago, when I heard Ryan Holiday’s Naval Academy speech got canceled, I wasn’t surprised.

​

Saddened, yes.

But not surprised. Book banning isn’t new.

It’s just the same old fear, dressed in a new uniform.

Fear of young men thinking for themselves.

Fear of them growing stronger through truth, even uncomfortable truth.

But let me tell you what builds strength:

Reading. Studying. Questioning. Debating. Thinking.

You don’t become a leader by repeating what you’re told.

You become a leader by knowing why something matters.

And that wisdom? It doesn’t come from scrolling. It comes from sitting with the greats.

• Marcus Aurelius.
• James Stockdale.
• Malcolm X.
• Seneca.
• Musashi.

They left us the playbooks. But you have to read them.

And when someone tells you not to? That’s exactly when you should.

Because a warrior who can’t think… is a weapon waiting to be misused. But a warrior who can think?

That’s a leader.

The Fastest Path to Weakness: Ignorance

There are many ways to weaken a man.

• Take away his food.
• Take away his tools.
• Take away his tribe.

But if you want to weaken a warrior fast?

Take away his mind.

Censor what he can learn. Limit what he can question. Block what he can read.

Because when you blind a man intellectually, you don’t need to chain him physically. He’ll never rise. He’ll never lead. He’ll never think beyond what you want him to think.

And that’s the real danger.

Why This Matters

When young men are discouraged from asking questions, they grow into weak leaders.

When they’re taught to obey without understanding, they fall in line with orders they should have questioned.

History is full of examples:

• The My Lai Massacre.
• The Charge of the Light Brigade.
• The blind obedience of entire generations to toxic ideologies.

And you know what would have prevented many of these? One person with the courage to ask: Why?

Why Books Make You Dangerous

Books teach you how to:

• Think clearly.
• See patterns.
• Understand strategy.
• Feel deeply.
• Navigate complexity.

Every great warrior, from Miyamoto Musashi to General Mattis, was a reader.

Reading is the original superpower.

You can time travel.

You can sit at the feet of the dead and learn what they bled to understand.

You can equip yourself with knowledge your enemies hope you never find.

Why They Ban Books

They say it’s for your protection. Too controversial. Too political. Too confusing.

What they really mean is: You might start to think for yourself.

And when a man thinks for himself, he becomes dangerous to those who benefit from his obedience.

It’s not just about what books get banned. It’s about what kind of world they’re trying to build. One where questions are threats. One where curiosity is rebellion. One where leaders are chosen based on loyalty, not wisdom.

What You Can Do

1. Read the Banned Books
   • ​Start with the ones they told you not to.​
   • Ask why they were banned.
2. Study the Great Thinkers
   • Stockdale.
   • Aurelius.
   • Malcolm X.
   • Holiday.
   • Feynman.
3. Challenge Everything
   • Not to destroy.
   • But to understand.
4. Journal Your Thoughts​
   After every book, write:
   • What did I learn?
   • What surprised me?
   • What do I disagree with?
5. Find a Mentor
   • Living or dead. In person or on the page.
   • Study how they thought, not just what they did.
6. Discuss with Tribe
   • Start a book club.
   • Have conversations that push you beyond small talk.
7. Build Your Own Library
   • Start with just five books.
   • Choose ones that challenge you.

A Warning

It won’t be easy. You will be called arrogant. Dangerous. Disobedient.

Good.

The world doesn’t need more obedient drones. It needs thinkers.

It needs you, fully armed with knowledge, discipline, and the courage to say:

No, I won’t just follow. I want to understand.

Putting It On the Mat

Let me take you back to a conversation I had on the mat with a young blue belt.

He was fast, technical, and sharp—but something was off. After a tough roll, he sat back, frustrated.

“I know all the moves,” he said. “But it’s like I don’t know what to do with them.”

I nodded. I’ve seen that look before. It’s the look of a man who trained the body… but forgot the mind.

I asked him, “What are you reading right now?”

He looked surprised. “Reading?”

I told him: “You don’t become dangerous by just training harder. You become dangerous by thinking clearer. By understanding why you move, not just how.”

That night, I gave him a copy of Meditations. Told him to read one page a night.

Three months later, he was different. Not faster. Not stronger.

Smarter.

He moved with purpose. He fought with presence. And he thought for himself.

That’s what wisdom does. That’s what books do.

So here’s your challenge:

Pick a banned book. Read it. Talk about it. Reflect on it.

Start tonight. Ten minutes. One page.

​Read many of them for FREE here.​

​Or, you can listen to FREE audiobooks here.​

Because the fastest way to weaken a warrior is to keep him from thinking.

But if you do think?

You won’t just be strong. You’ll be unstoppable.

Read dangerously. Think independently. Lead with wisdom.

• That’s how you become a warrior.
• That’s how you become a leader.
• That’s how you change the world.

One book at a time.

One question at a time.

One thought at a time.

Now get to work.

​Read them for FREE here.​

​Or, listen to FREE audiobooks here.​

P.S. Are you sicked and tired of being surrounded by losers, lemmings and Luddites who are afraid to think for themselves or to lead their own lives?

Then join the Leader's Dojo, where you not only discover how badass you are but you're surrounded by other badass warriors and leaders who will help you to be even better.

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